We Are Taking Over: Majority of Torontonians Identify As Visible Minorities

It's a trend.

Sitting at the bar last night, my coworkers and I got really excited reminiscing about songs from the classic Bollywood blockbuster Dil Se, while our white boss looked increasingly out of place.

Welcome to Toronto, bitch. A city where, according to the 2016 census data, 51.5 percent of the population (3 million people) identifies as a visible minority. That's up from 2011, when 47 percent of Torontonians identified as visible minorities.

Most visible minorities in Toronto identify as South Asian (16.6 percent of the city's population), Chinese (10.8 percent), and Black (7.5 percent).

In Vancouver, 48.9 percent of the population identifies as visible minorities, up from 45.2 percent in 2011.

The trend is reflected across the country—22.3 percent of Canadians consider themselves visible minorities. According to Statistics Canada, that number could jump to between 31-34 percent by 2036. South Asians make up 5.6 percent of the entire population, Chinese (4.6 percent), and Black people (3.5 percent).

The census data also shows that 21.9 percent of Canadians are foreign-born.

In practical terms, this means I may well never have to pretend to care about the Japandroids ever again.